The Gang Goes Double-Oh-Seven
by Obsessive Explosion
Summary: Mustang and Havoc have to go on a mission together to recover an important file, but it goes wrong when Havoc is injured


"Do we have to do this?" Havoc asked, eyeing Mustang as he carefully removed his glove, wrapped his hand in cloth, and then punched out the window.

Mustang turned back towards him. "Do what?"

Havoc gestured miserably around them. "This?" Havoc meant the whole mission, he supposed. Havoc, Mustang, and Hawkeye were supposed to be retrieving a top secret file from the huge mansion of a possible Drachman spy. Havoc knew the file was supposed to contain some sort of information on state secrets, and he knew that it was pretty important, but Mustang hadn't explained what they were doing very well, and Havoc had been worrying about a date he'd been supposed to have that night anyway.

Havoc hadn't particularly wanted to be involved in the mission at all. He'd had to cancel the date he'd had planned, and he thought that Hawkeye and Mustang could probably handle the mission on their own just fine. But Mustang had explained that Hawkeye was going to be covering them from afar, making sure she could snipe in or call for backup if necessary, and Mustang was still going to need support on the ground. Which is what led to Havoc's current situation of helping Mustang break into the mansion through a window.

Mustang looked at Havoc for a few seconds, as if attempting to determine if he was serious. Mustang sighed, shook his head, and continued trying to knock the last bits of glass out of the window.

"Fine," Havoc sighed, realizing he wasn't going to get anything else out of the Colonel. He leaned against the wall, wishing that he had a cigarette, but he had been specifically told that they wouldn't be allowed. "But if I get shot, it's going to be all your fault."

"I think I can live with that," Mustang said, knocking out the last few glass shards and boosting himself in through the window. He gestured for Havoc to come up behind him.

"Are you sure it's not going to be alarmed?" Havoc started to ask, and then was cut off when an alarm started blaring.

"Well, I guess that answers that question," Havoc muttered, and vaulted up easily behind the Colonel. Mustang flattened himself against a wall and peered around the corner.

"Clear," he whispered, and set off at a jog down the hallway. Havoc followed him, starting to get more excited now that he was actually in the building. He sighed quietly. This sort of covert operation would really impress the girls. Just his luck that the Colonel had decreed it "absolutely Top Secret, are you listening to me, 2nd Lieutenant Havoc?" Still, maybe he could find a way to spin it.

At the end of the hallway, Mustang paused. "Alright, the plans should be in the East Wing. Unfortunately, we're in the West Wing."

"Well, why didn't we just break a window in the East Wing?" Havoc pointed out, rather astutely he thought.

The Colonel looked at him a little strangely. "There aren't any windows…. You saw the plans, Havoc."

"Oh yes. Those plans. Yep, no windows, I remember that now." He didn't know what plans Mustang was talking about, and wasn't even entirely sure they had ever been shown to him. So before Mustang could question him anymore, he peered around the doorjamb and waved to the Colonel.

"We're clear."

They cautiously entered the next hallway and they were halfway down it when Havoc heard voices. Before either of them could react, three guards appeared at the far end.

There was a half-second of frozen silence, and then Havoc was moving. He pulled his guns from their holsters and slid to the side, taking aim. Bullets raked the air where he'd been standing, and he squeezed off a few shots in return as he looked for cover. He didn't know where the Colonel was, hopefully preparing to explode someone.

Ahead of him, one of the guards dropped. The other raised his gun and Havoc rolled but he wasn't quick enough. The guard's bullet entered his shoulder and punched through the other side. He cried out and dropped one gun as his fingers lost their grip on it. As he tumbled to a stop, he looked up dizzily and saw the guard covering him as he approached. There was no way Havoc could raise his other gun fast enough to win that shootout. Besides, he wasn't as good with his left hand.

 _The Colonel._ He looked around, but Mustang was nowhere to be seen. _That son of a bitch._ He hadn't really thought the Colonel would leave him to die, but he seemed to be in the process of doing just that. He wanted to call out to him, but at the same time he knew better than to directly tell the guards that there was another person with him, on the off chance that they hadn't noticed Mustang yet.

The guards came closer, guns held out threateningly in front of them, and Havoc felt a wave of real panic roll over him. _Mustang...Mustang hasn't actually abandoned me though, right?_ Havoc scrambled backwards a few feet, then felt his back hit a wall. He sucked in a sharp breath. The pain in his shoulder was so intense that he was starting to get a little dizzy. He really would need to fight his way out of this if Mustang had left him behind, but he had no idea how to go about doing it, not in this state.

The first guard reached Havoc. He grabbed Havoc roughly by the shoulders, causing him to gasp with pain, and then dragged him to his feet before slamming him backwards against the wall. Havoc furiously tried to blink the blackness away from his vision. It felt like there was a hot poker being shoved through his wounded arm.

"Hey, come on, there's no reason to be rough with me," he said, swallowing hard. "I'm...I'm not going anywhere."

Havoc smiled a little. The guard did not. He did not look amused.

"Why are you here?" the guard said, shoving him backwards into the wall. Havoc bit his lip against the pain. "Tell me everything you know."

This actually startled a laugh out of Havoc. "Me? Tell you everything I know? Pal, I don't know anything."

"Stop lying to me!" the guard yelled in Havoc's face.

"I swear, I don't know anything at all," Havoc said, starting to get a little frantic. "Let's keep this between the three of us," he used his good hand to gesture weakly at the guards, "but I wasn't paying attention at all when I was getting briefed. I was thinking about this hot date I was going to have later with a very, uh, _curvaceous_ lady, if you catch my drift…."

The guard squeezed Havoc's shoulder, and Havoc whimpered as his vision blurred. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his own blood oozing between the guard's fingers.

"I'll ask you one more time," the guard said, and placed his gun against Havoc's forehead. Havoc squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head once. He waited for the guard to hit him, or shoot him in the knee, or even get tired of questioning him and just shoot him in the head.

"Step away from him right now."

Havoc cautiously opened his eyes and grinned. Colonel Mustang was standing behind the guards, gloved hand raised. The guard holding Havoc wheeled around, in the process releasing Havoc's shoulder. With a slight sense of surprise, Havoc realized his legs had buckled and he was sliding slowly down the wall.

 _Probably for the best,_ he thought. _This way I don't get caught in the crossfire._ He cradled his injured arm and watched Mustang go to work.

In a matter of seconds, the guards were steaming piles of ash, and Mustang was reaching a hand down to help Havoc up. Havoc took it and got unsteadily to his feet, grunting as the motion sent a shockwave through his shoulder.

"We have to move," the Colonel said, already setting off down the hallway. "More will be coming after those gunshots."

He glanced back at Havoc and made a miffed noise. "Try not to leave a trail of blood on the floor."

Mustang began to jog away, and Havoc followed painfully, every step sending a jolt of agony up his arm. He glared at the Colonel's back.

"Yes sir, I'm fine, thanks for asking. What? This hole in my shoulder? Oh, it's nothing. All in the line of duty…. I better get some goddamn overtime for this."

As much as Havoc was trying to laugh off the injury, it was really becoming quite painful. He was having a hard time breathing around it. Blackness was starting to encroach on the edges of his vision, but he wasn't sure if it was from the pain or the blood loss.

Havoc looked down at his left hand, the one that had been clutching his shoulder, and saw that it was slick with blood. Abruptly the world seemed to tilt sideways around him, and he stumbled hard. "Wait, Colonel, I think I need to rest for a second…."

Mustang stopped a few feet in front of him and swung around. Havoc saw his expression soften just the slightest bit, although he might have imagined it. After all, everything was getting a little blurry….

"We need to take care of that before you bleed out," Mustang said firmly. "Sit down."

Havoc didn't need to be told twice. He sat down against the wall, clutching his damaged shoulder. "Are you...do you have bandages with you?" he asked weakly, surprised that Mustang would have thought to bring something like that.

"Not quite," Mustang said, tearing off the cuff of his shirt.

"Colonel, that's not going to be enough fabric to bandage my whole shoulder…."

"It's not a bandage," Mustang said, inserting the fabric into Havoc's mouth before he could protest. "Here, bite down on this. Try not to scream."

Havoc's eyes widened. He realized what was about to happen a second before it did. Mustang snapped his fingers and a small flame flared up on Havoc's shoulder. The cloth muffled Havoc's screams some, but it did nothing to dull the pain. The initial bullet wound was _nothing_ compared to this. Havoc felt his breath catch in his chest. He thought he might black out right there on the spot.

And then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over. Havoc ripped the cloth out of his mouth with his good hand, still gasping with pain, trying his best to blink back tears. "Colonel, what the fuck?" he said, before he could stop himself.

"Sorry, I had to do it," Mustang said, raising his eyebrows slightly. "I know it probably hurt like fuck though."

Ordinarily, Havoc would have been utterly shocked to hear the Colonel swear, but he was preoccupied with the blinding pain in his shoulder. It wasn't bleeding anymore, and it was no longer on fire, but it did indeed still hurt like fuck.

The Colonel rose to his feet and hauled Havoc up after him. "Come on."

Without waiting to see if Havoc was following, he darted down the hallway. Havoc frowned, trying to remember the way they'd come in.

"Colonel! Isn't the exit that way?" He jerked his head back towards the way they'd come. Mustang looked at him like he'd gone crazy.

"We haven't completed the mission yet," he said, as if the answer had been self-evident. Havoc blinked at him in confusion, then looked down at his charred shoulder, then back at the Colonel. He didn't say anything, he felt like his point was perfectly clear and should have been obvious to any normal person. Unfortunately, the Colonel was not a normal person.

Mustang turned to face Havoc and took a deep breath. Havoc felt himself sway slightly and leaned against the wall, hoping the next words out of his mouth would be "You're right as usual, Havoc. Let's get you to a doctor right away."

They weren't.

"Havoc, this mission goes beyond you or me..." Havoc raised an eyebrow. Right now, he was having a little trouble focusing on anything, much less the mission he didn't entirely understand in the first place. But Mustang wasn't done.

"The information that we're trying to obtain tonight could be the turning point in the entire conflict. Tonight, we are getting a key weapon in the battle to save Amestris! It's not just about our survival, but our country's. You're not going on for me, but for your friends, for your family, for that brunette girl with the big boobs! They're counting on us, we can't stop here! Now, will you follow me?"

To Havoc's surprise, he found that he would. He hadn't been entirely clear on their goal beforehand, but perhaps this was more important than he'd thought. The survival of Amestris…not to mention that pretty brunette…. He pushed himself off the wall and did his best to shove down the pain in his shoulder.

"Lead the way, Colonel," he said. Mustang grinned and clapped him on the back, and Havoc almost changed his mind as his shoulder protested with a breathtakingly painful wrench. Mustang winced and shoved his hands into his pockets guiltily.

"Sorry, Lieutenant…"

Havoc squeaked slightly, which the Colonel seemed to take as an expression of his forgiveness.

They walked for a few more minutes. Havoc's shoulder still hurt worse than anything else he had ever experienced, but he started to fall into a rhythm with it. It wasn't so bad, he supposed, as long as he didn't breathe too deeply or walk too fast or try to move that arm at all….

"Get down!" Mustang suddenly hissed, dropping to one knee and raising his right hand threateningly. Havoc took a knee too, so caught up in the moment that for a second he completely forgot about his injured shoulder. He used his right hand to reach for the gun at his hip. Instantly, the pain overwhelmed him.

Blackness.

An unknown amount of time later, Havoc found himself blinking awake from a position on the floor of the mansion. Mustang was leaning over him, looking surprisingly concerned. The pain in Havoc's shoulder was still breathtakingly intense, throbbing to the beat of his heart, but it was nothing compared to the agony that had occurred when he'd tried to move it.

"What...what happened?" Havoc asked, still feeling rather groggy. "Why am I on the floor?"

"You passed out when you tried to get your gun," Mustang said, eyes narrowed.

"I...I did? How long was I out? Did you get the guards?"

Mustang nodded. "You were only out around thirty seconds, and yes, I killed the guards. Now come on, let's get you up. You need a doctor."

Havoc shoved himself up into a sitting position, letting the wall take most of his weight but refusing to grab Mustang's outstretched hand. "The doctor?" Havoc said. "What? No, that can't be right. What about...what about honor and duty and saving Amestris and...and that brunette girl…?"

"You need to get to the hospital," Mustang said. "This mission, it's certainly important, but not worth dying for."

"No, you said this was the most important thing," Havoc protested, wishing he could remember more of the exact words that the Colonel had used. "You said it would save the country…."

Mustang shrugged. "Alright, if you say so," he said. "We definitely can keep going."

Havoc blinked. He had expected the Colonel to take more convincing. He did want to keep going, but…his shoulder did really hurt…and he'd never passed out before…but still. _Honor and duty_ , Havoc reminded himself, and allowed the Colonel to pull him upright.

Ten minutes later, they were still sneaking through the mansion, and Havoc was regretting allowing the Colonel to stay. With every step, he had to bite back a cry of pain. And that was just walking. Whenever they saw an oncoming guard, they'd have to dart into an alcove, or a hallway, or just drop flat. The extra movement was causing the steady throb in Havoc's shoulder to spike nastily, and Havoc almost would have welcomed passing out again to get away from the pain.

"Down," hissed Mustang, and Havoc obeyed. He bit his lip and fought back nausea. _I can't throw up I'll pass out again if I throw up-_

The guard passed the hallway without seeing them, and Mustang rose. Havoc wasn't sure that he would be able to get up, but he managed it somehow and kept stumbling along behind the Colonel.

"Hey, Colonel, are we close to the East Wing?" Havoc asked, trying to sound casual and not like someone holding back a scream. He must have done a fairly good job, because Mustang nodded at him absentmindedly.

"Next turn," he whispered.

Havoc sighed in relief and made his painful way down the hallway. They peered around the corner, and Havoc saw an imposing-looking steel door. There were no guards by the door, and Havoc assumed they were patrolling the surrounding corridors. Honestly, he didn't really care where the guards were. The easier this was, the better.

Mustang gave the all clear and they ran across the empty passageway, Havoc cradling his injured arm in an attempt to shield it from some of the bumping. It didn't work as well as he'd hoped, and by the time they made it across, he didn't feel entirely steady on his feet. He leaned against the wall and concentrated on breathing as Mustang muttered about burning through the lock.

The Colonel clicked his fingers and a small flame sputtered to life. He held it under the lock, and it seemed to be acting like a welding torch, cutting through the metal. Havoc closed his eyes, losing interest as his shoulder spasmed. He breathed in, out, in, out- paused. He'd heard something…odd.

"Colonel! Down!" A guard had come around the far end of the hallway, and he was pulling out his gun with one hand and reaching for his radio with the other. Havoc couldn't afford to pass out this time. He knew better than to try to go for his gun with his right hand again.

Havoc yanked out his gun and fired quickly at the guard. He managed to hit the guard in the shoulder, almost the exact same place that Havoc himself had been shot. He breathed out, took more careful aim, and managed to destroy the radio with his next shot.

The guard appeared to have passed out from the gunshot wound. Havoc smiled smugly. Havoc had passed out once, yeah, but it had been fifteen minutes after the initial wound and he had pretty quickly gotten back in action. He was way tougher than this guy here.

"Good job, Havoc," Mustang said as he finished destroying the lock. He pushed the door a little, and it swung inward. Mustang walked inside, Havoc following close behind.

 _Good job._ Havoc thought he maybe deserved a little bit more praise than that, but he supposed it was coming from the Colonel, who scarcely ever complimented anyone at all. Havoc must have done something really good. That knowledge even managed to ease the pain in his shoulder, at least for a few seconds.

"It should be in here," Mustang said. The room they were in looked like a small office, with a heavy wood desk in the corner and a sturdy file cabinet in the opposite wall. "Help me search for it."

"Um, what exactly is it supposed to look like again?" Havoc asked. He assumed it wasn't going to be a folder with the word 'classified' stamped on the side, but he wasn't sure exactly what else he should be looking for.

Mustang sighed slightly. "You really don't understand what's going on at all, do you?"

Havoc figured there was no point in lying anymore. "No sir, not really sir."  
Maybe because Havoc was visibly swaying on his feet, Mustang seemed to take pity on him. "Why don't you just sit down for a few minutes?" Mustang said. "I'll find it."

Havoc didn't need to be told twice. Gratefully, he propped himself in a corner, shut his eyes, and tried to think about something that wasn't the horrible pain he was experiencing. He tried to think about the date he'd been on last week, but even the thought of Susanne's cleavage couldn't make him forget the burn covering half his shoulder. He sighed. At least Mustang hadn't made him look for the folder. At least he didn't have to move.

"Got it," Mustang said. "Come on, Lieutenant."

 _So much for that,_ Havoc thought ruefully. But if they got out of the mansion alive, they could take him to a hospital…. He pushed himself up the wall, gritting his teeth, and prayed that they'd find the exit quickly. On the way out, he looked back at the guard he'd shot. He was still lying on the floor, unconscious. Havoc smirked slightly and stepped over him.

Somehow, they made it through the halls without seeing any more guards, although Havoc supposed that wasn't entirely a surprise. They'd probably killed most of them on the way in. They reached the window they'd entered through without incident, and Mustang hopped down easily. Havoc eyed it warily, unsure how to exit without moving his right arm.

" _Havoc!_ "

"Coming, Colonel," Havoc said, and managed to get to a sitting position on the sill. He stared at the ground. It looked farther away than it had when they'd come in. Mustang glared at him.

"I will leave you here," Mustang said threateningly, and stepped backward to illustrate his point.

Havoc thought he meant it. He scooted forward off the sill, and then there was a flash of pain and he heard someone scream. After a moment of careful reflection, he decided it had been him. Then, the Colonel was heaving him off the ground, and they were running towards the empty house across the street.

Mustang crept around the side of the house and knocked quietly on an unobtrusive door. Havoc breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't have managed a window, not when every time he moved, he had to exert every ounce of his willpower just to stay upright. At this point, walking was enough of a challenge.

The door opened, and Riza stepped back to let them slip into the darkness inside.

"Colonel. I heard shots. Are you alright?"

"We're fine, Lieutenant. Havoc was injured, but we still managed to complete the mission. We have the file here."

Riza, at least, seemed more sympathetic to Havoc's plight than Mustang had been. As soon as Mustang told her he had been injured, she stepped towards him. "Havoc, what happened?"

"My shoulder," he started to say, but then he realized that something strange was happening with his vision. He tried to blink away the darkness that seemed to be eating away at the edges, but it didn't work. His eyes narrowed. And then he felt himself pitch forward as the blackness swallowed him up.

When Havoc woke up, he had no idea how much time had passed. He was somewhere bright now, and when he tried to sit up he discovered both that his shoulder had been bandaged and that an IV had been inserted into his other arm. He blinked slowly. His head felt thick and fuzzy. It abruptly occurred to him that the IV line was probably feeding him drugs.

Havoc turned his head to the other side, where Mustang and Hawkeye were sitting, talking in hushed voices between themselves. Riza made a small exclamation of surprise when she realized that Havoc was awake. Havoc groaned slightly.

"Did I...did I pass out again?"

Mustang managed a small smile. "Yeah, you blacked out almost as soon as we made it out of the mansion. We brought you to the hospital."

"How long have I been out?"

"Around three hours," Mustang said.

"So...so that's enough time for you to have brought the file back to headquarters, right? Did we...did we save Amestris? And that girl?"

Riza and Mustang exchanged a quick glance, and even before either of them had said anything Havoc felt his heart sink. It was Riza who finally answered him.

"The file appears to have, uh, not contained the information that we thought it would," she said carefully. "As it turns out...it was completely useless."

Havoc put his head in his uninjured hand and groaned.


End file.
